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TUSCALOOSA – Alabama's already depleted backfield is facing another potential loss after freshman running back Bo Scarbrough was carted off the field near the end of Friday's first spring scrimmage.

Scarbrough, who enrolled in January after sitting out last season while dealing with academic issues relating to the NCAA Clearinghouse, was expected to provide some solid punch in Alabama's backfield behind expected junior starter Derrick Henry and senior Kenyan Drake.

But that could be in jeopardy after Scarbrough suffered what Alabama head coach Nick Saban described as a "knee" injury.

"Bo was doing pretty well, but we've had injuries, suspensions, and lost some people at that position," Saban said. "So what seemed like a pretty strong position for us, depth-wise, has gotten a little thin."

Alabama is already down one tailback after Saban dismissed sophomore Tyren Jones on Tuesday following his arrest on marijuana possession. Jones was unavailable this spring while facing a team suspension.

Prior to the injury, Scarbrough had a productive scrimmage, rushing for two touchdowns on 16 carries for 36 yards, with the 6-foot-2, 240-pound local Tuscaloosa product likely seeing action in goal-line situational drills.

Henry had the best day among the Alabama running backs, finishing the scrimmage with 112 rushing yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.

Saban didn't want to speculate regarding Scarbrough's knee injury.

"I think that's for the doctors to decide," Saban said. "They've got to take MRIs, and do all this things, so I don't speculate on these kind of injuries. We'll see, and let you know when we find out."

In an effort to avoid any more injuries, and to help Drake in his recovery from a broken leg suffered in the middle of last season, the versatile senior halfback wore a black, no-contact jersey during the scrimmage and didn't see any contact.

"Derrick Henry had a pretty good day," Saban said. "Kenyan Drake, even though he wore a black shirt out there and we just tagged off of him, was very effective in some of the things that he did in the running game and the passing game. It's good to have him back out there."

Drake was upbeat Monday when speaking to reporters.

"It feels great. Obviously, I'm not 100 percent yet, that won't come until later on in the fall," Drake said. "But everything to this point has been great. My leg has responded well."

Drake has also been seeing time at receiver while coaches regulate how much pounding his ankle takes this spring. Nevertheless, Drake's been able to participate fully at practice, for the most part.

"Kenyan has been able to do everything. He actually ran a 4.4 when we tested right before," Saban said. "The big thing we're trying to do is to get him all the reps we can get him, but not bang him around too much that he has a problem with his ankle. And then once we get through the spring, he'll have a significant amount of time to be able to get some rest and get in better condition, but he's really done well."

OL Taylor limited with MLC injury: Junior offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor has been limited at practice this week while dealing with an MCL injury, according to Saban, who added Taylor will "probably be back at practice on Monday."

Taylor, nicknamed "Shank," didn't participate in Friday's scrimmage with redshirt freshman Ross Pierschbacher receiving first-team reps at Taylor's left guard position. Taylor started the first several practices at left guard between returning starters in sophomore left tackle Cam Robinson and senior center Ryan Kelly.

Saban said four of his five first-team offensive linemen have really begun to separate themselves, specifically pointing to Robinson, Kelly, Pierschbacher and senior right tackle Dominick Jackson.

"I think those four guys have really made progress," Saban said. "Then we've got another four or five guys in a pile that are kind of competing for the rest of the positions."

Sophomore Bradley Bozeman has been working with the first-team offensive line at right guard throughout spring. Junior tight end Brandon Greene is back working with the offensive line, mostly with the second unit, alongside sophomore center J.C. Hassenauer.

"I think there's work to do, but I really do think four guys have sort of separated themselves," Saban said, "and we need some other guys to play with more consistency so we can have the kind of offensive line that we want to have. Then depth is going to be a huge issue for us to develop our young players."

Bateman working at WR, still taking reps at QB: Alabama sophomore quarterback Cooper Bateman has spent the last three practices working at receiver after sophomore Cam Sims tore his ACL last Saturday.

Bateman started practice Monday in his usual black, no-contact quarterback jersey before switching to the white, contact No. 18 he's worn at practice every day since.

Nevertheless, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound signal caller from Utah is still seeing action at quarterback, according to Saban.

"He still takes reps in practice at quarterback, but I just thought that maybe we could create a role that might be beneficial for our team and maybe be beneficial to him, because he's such a good athlete," Saban said of Bateman. "You know, he had really good measurables when we tested everybody. If we just rated the top-50 athletes on our team, he'd probably be one of them. So now is the time to find out if he could contribute at another position."